Container systems may be used in many industries for storing, shipping and dispensing materials of various viscosities. For example, numerous manufacturing processes require the use of ultrapure liquids, such as acids, solvents, bases, photoresists, slurries, cleaning formulations, dopants, inorganic, organic, metalorganic and biological solutions, pharmaceuticals, and radioactive chemicals. Many other industries use container systems for a variety of applications, for example the food industry, pharmaceutical industry, cosmetic industry. Typically, a shipping and dispensing system includes a container of some kind, a liner, a cap to seal and protect the contents of the storage system when the contents are not being dispensed, and a connector to dispense the contents from the container. The liner and/or container can include a fitment that allows caps, connectors, or other coupling devices to be coupled with the container system. Some systems further include a dip tube or a dip tube assembly that may assist in dispensing the contents of the container.
Conventional fitments may include a neck portion for coupling with a cap, connector, or other coupling device and a flange portion, which may be welded to or integrally formed with the walls of the container. However, in applications where headspace gas removal is desirable, problems can arise when such conventional fitments are utilized. Generally, the expression “headspace” or “headspace gas,” as used herein, refers to the gas space in the container that resides above the contents stored in therein, for example, from gas that rises through the liquid to the top of the container. In some cases or for some applications, it is undesirable to leave head space or head space gas in the container, or it may simply be more desirable to have the head space or head space gas removed. For example, if all, or substantially all, of the headspace gas is removed, then generally the only remaining sources of gas bubbles, if any, would be from any folds in the container walls. One issue, for example, is that in order to access and remove the headspace gas, a headspace gas removal connector may be coupled to, fitted with, or adjacently positioned to the neck portion, and a probe of the connector may be inserted through the neck portion down toward and into the container. When doing so, the dip tube assembly may be inadvertently pushed out of the fitment and into the container, where the dip tube may cause damage to the walls of the container. Additionally, the dip tube assembly needs to be reconnected with the fitment for further use, which is both tricky and time consuming, thus heightening the risk of tearing of the container walls.
Conventional dip tube assemblies may include a relatively long and slender tubular portion that may be generally cylindrically shaped having a given diameter and a given length, often depending on the intended use. The tubular portion may be configured for placement so as to extend into an interior cavity of a liner or other container. To assist in proper placement of the tubular portion, the tubular portion may be configured to cooperate with a coupler portion that is shaped and configured to substantially fit into, or adjacent to, the mouth of the liner or other container, such as by fitting into or adjacent to, or coupling with, a fitment portion of the liner or other container, so as to generally fixedly couple or connect the tubular portion with the liner or other container. The tubular portion and coupler portion may be, and often are, separate stand-alone parts. For example, the tubular portion may often be a standard tube and the coupler portion may be a particularly custom part designed to permit coupling between the standard tube and a custom dispense container. In this regard, the coupler portion may often be configured with a tubular receiving cavity designed to receive and accommodate liquid-tight insertion of the tubular portion and an exterior designed to substantially fit into, or adjacent to, the mouth or fitment portion of a particular model container or other custom container.
Some containers, including liners and overpacks, may be relatively large to very large. Large to very large containers may have liner and/or overpack fitments with mouths that are correspondingly relatively large to very large. Accordingly, conventional dip tubes, couplers, and dip tube assemblies may not be appropriately sized for suitable use with some large to very large dispensers. As such, fitment adapters have been used to retrofit the mouth of relatively large liners and overpacks so as to allow known dip tubes, couplers, and dip tube assemblies to be used therewith. However, conventional fitment adapters may not adequately support the dip tube, coupler, or dip tube assembly within the liner, which may result in, for example, relatively slow filling and dispense, and may allow for kinks to form in the dip tube, which may create undesirable bubbles in the contents of the liner, for example. Further, in some cases, if the dip tube coupler is not suitably sized to fit snuggly within the fitment of the liner, the liner may become pinched between the coupler and the fitment, particularly during dispense. Such pinching can result in tears in the liner, which can introduce air or other impurities into the contents of the liner, for example.
Accordingly, there is a need for fitments and fitment adapters that overcome the disadvantages of conventional fitments and fitment adapters in one or more ways. That is, there is a need for improved fitments and fitment adapters and methods for manufacturing the same.